Creating Impactful Installations | 2021 Report | Hubbub

A Hubbub Guide to

Creating Impactful Installations Compiled by Francesca Curtis for Hubbub, August 2020

Contents Introduction: A Note from the Author

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1. Starting the Project: Is an installation the right choice?

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• ixia’s Public Art: A Guide to Evaluation for defining values

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2. Design: What are the creative possibilities for your installation?

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• A. Data Visualisations

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• B. Experiential Works

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• C. Community Works

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• D. Performance

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• E. Light

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• F. Sound

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• G. Digital Works

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• H. Narrative Environment design

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• I. Designers and Organisations for Potential Collaboration

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3. Materials: What are the best materials for the job?

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• A. List of Established Building Materials

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• B. List of Cutting-Edge Materials

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• C. Afterlife: Sorting out that storage problem

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4. Creating Impact: How can you make the most of your installation?

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• A. Evaluation Processes

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• B. Location

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• C. Documentation and Online Archives

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Key links

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Introduction: A Note from the Author Are you thinking about producing an installation? This report aims to give you some help along to way.

Focusing on three specific areas – design, materials, and impact/evaluation – the intention is to offer creative inspiration by asking questions about your possibilities and potential challenges and offering some examples of what has been done before. The key research questions are:

Is an installation the right choice?

What are the creative possibilities for your installation’s design?

What are the best materials for the job?

How can you make the most of your installation?

This report is organised chronologically and is intended to be used alongside the Hubbub Installation Checklist: Section 1 is to be used at the start of the planning process; Section 2 during the brief writing, artist section and design refinement; Section 3 during the materials selection and consideration of the installation afterlife; and Section 4 during the selection of location, documentation, and methods of creating impact.

The approach taken here is largely driven by conversations with members of the Hubbub team. After speaking to multiple of project leads of past Hubbub installations, several takeaway messages emerged. These included questions of what an installation can achieve, a desire to find more creative approaches to installations that are more ephemeral, transportable and sustainable, and a need to have clear narratives and procedures that can lead to more concrete forms of change. I approached this task using my background as a Contemporary Art History researcher to identify case studies, interview designers, evaluate methods, designs, and materials, and provide you with some questions to consider along the way.

It’s been a pleasure working with you for this time. Happy designing!

Francesca

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1.

1. Starting Starting the the Project: Project:

Is an installation the right choice?

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1. Starting the Project: Is an installation the right choice?

Installations can be hugely beneficial for a campaign, but by no means are they always necessary or even the most effective strategy. At the beginning of the planning stage, it is worth being explicit about what it is that you aim to get out of the installation. The design can then be tailored to this aim, and so can processes of evaluation: how the success of the installation is measured should not be an afterthought, it should be outlined early on and tailored to the aim - more information on evaluation can be found in Section 4 of this report.

Before deciding to create an installation, it’s worth having a conversation with the design team and the Directors to discuss whether there’s another way you can achieve the desired impact.

ixia’s Public Art: A Guide to Evaluation for defining values To help with this process, it’s worth consulting Public Art: A Guide to Evaluation, a guide created by England’s public art think tank ixia. The guide is based on research into the evaluation of public art, conducted by OPENspace, a research centre at Edinburgh College of Art and Herriot-Watt University focused on access to outdoor spaces. Alongside a series of seminars and workshops run by ixia, this research has culminated into an evaluation toolkit. Originally published in 2009, it has been updated multiple times; this information is based on the third edition to the guide.

The aim of the guide is to open a discussion on which values apply to public art installations, which should be prioritised, and how they differ between different installation stakeholders. In the guide, they provide a form called The Matrix, which is to be filled out early on the planning process by all relevant members (the design team, artists, community members, funders), to facilitate discussion on which values of the installation should be prioritised. You can find this Matrix on page 9 of the link above.

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1. Starting the Project: Is an installation the right choice?

These values are:

Artistic value

Social value

Visual/aesthetic/ enjoyment, social activation, innovation/ risk – conceptual, innovation/risk – technical, host participation – during, host participation – after, challenge/critical debate

Community development – short term, community development – long term, poverty and social inclusion, health and well being, crime and safety, inter/personal development, travel and access, skills acquisition

Environmental value Vegetation and wildlife, physical environmental improvement, conservation, pollution and waste management: air, water and ground quality, climate change and energy

Economic value Marketing/place identity, regeneration, tourism, economic investement and output, resource use and recycling, education, employment, project management/ sustainability, value for money

More information on these criteria can be found in the guide. This list is not prescriptive, nor should it limit the installation’s boundaries – it is merely a means of generating discussion of what values lie within the installation, which can help determine what its aims are and what it can bring to a campaign.

This can also help decide early on what the evaluation process of an installation can be: if you are using installation purely as a means of creating a small artistic spectacle to draw attention to a campaign, then it may not be as necessary to focus on the concrete environmental or social impact of that installation in itself. However, if you engage in a community based project, or an installation that helps regenerate land, then the social and environmental impact would more likely be the focus of the evaluation, whether that’s in the concrete ecological changes within the environment, or the changes within the community – i.e. raising awareness. More information on ixia’s guide to evaluation can be found in Section 4.

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2.

2. Design: Design:

What are the creative possibilities for your installation?

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2. Design: What are the creative possibilities for my installation?

This section provides a range of approaches to installation design from Europe and North America. There are benefits and limitations to each design, from their ability to create a small spectacle, the materials used (or lack thereof) and how they involve the community in the design.

A note on Covid-19 It’s important to consider the relevance and suitability of the different options within the context of Covid-19. Government guidelines are constantly changing and we will need to consider each case individually, however below are some key questions that you should consider when thinking about creating an installation post-Covid: • Which spaces are people frequenting, and how has the way we use space changed?

• What are the specific Government guidelines that we need to adhere to e.g. limit number of people interacting with the installation at any given time, make sure visitors wear face masks, make hand sanitizer available, implement one-way system?

• What issues are people concerned about, and how have their priorities changed in the current crisis?

• Even after the current restrictions lift, will people be less willing to stop and interact with strangers? How can we make them feel more comfortable?

• How can we create an engaging installation while also limiting social interaction?

• What senses can still be utilised (e.g. sight, sound and smell can be more relevant than tactile approaches)?

• We’re living in a constantly changing world. What’s our contingency plan if there’s a second or third wave?

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2. Design // A. Data visualizations

A. Data Visualisations Data visualisation can be very effective approach and uses installation as an educational tool to communicate the message of the campaign. Often environmental data is difficult to understand and does not resonate with a general public, so this can be a good way to make people focus on the facts.

However, a challenge of this approach is getting people to engage; it is often not enough to merely visualise a fact, it needs to grab attention and create a lasting impression.

The visualisation approach is not a fixed design format as such – it can be used in conjunction with large, static installations in prominent locations as well as any of the other designs listed in this section.

Key Qs to ask yourself include: • How can the design of an installation make a campaign message more impactful? • How can an installation not only give information about an issue but make people really feel its implications?

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2. Design // A. Data visualizations Case Study 1.

Mule Studio with Hubbub, Cup Cube, 2020 This Hubbub installation on the Southbank of London outside of Tate Modern was created as part of the Cup Fund campaign, aiming to boost coffee cup recycling.

The cube was installed to celebrate the launch of the 5 London Cup Fund projects in Bankside, London Bridge, Camden, Brixton, Mayfair, LSE, Queen Mary University and the University of Westminster. The aim of the installation is to provide an immersive experience, but also visualise the sheer amount of coffee cups used in the UK – comprised of 5,555 coffee cups, it represents the number of cups the UK gets through every minute.

Key Questions: • What impact does walking inside the sculpture have on the way you come to terms with the data?

Challenges to consider: • This installation had issues with vandalism – how can you provide similar structures, using the objects at the centre of your campaign, that will not be misused?

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2. Design // A. Data visualizations Case Study 2.

Wren Miller with Hubbub, Swansea Wave, 2019 Designed by local eco-artist Wren Miller, the Swansea Wave was part of the Swansea In the Loop campaign aiming to reduce on-the-go recycling in the area. Like Cup Cube, the Swansea Wave takes the object of the campaign – in this case, plastic bottles and cans – and forms them into an installation to visualise the extent of waste. The wave demonstrates the amount of recyclable waste thrown away every twenty seconds.

This installation moved to eight different locations around Swansea.

Key Questions: •

What interesting shapes or motifs like the wave can you use to visualise data?

Challenges to consider: • Where are you sourcing these recyclable materials, and will you recycle them once it is completed?

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2. Design // A. Data visualizations Case Study 3.

Alicja Biała and Iwo Borkowicz, Totemy, 2019 Six nine-metre geometric totems aim to each represent a different environmental issue, from plastic pollution, air pollution, water usage in beef farming, exploited fisheries, wild animal populations and annual deforestation. Each totem uses colour and pattern to represent a different statistic where each section represents a value, much like a bar chart. The viewer can access the meaning and statistics of these totems using a QR code.

Key Questions:

• How can we use colour and geometric pattern to attract an audience?

Challenges to consider: • QR codes can be useful ways of providing more information, but in a public location, are passers-by likely to use them? Will the sculptures remain obscure to many as a result?

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2. Design // A. Data visualizations Case Study 4.

Thijs Biersteker and Stefano Mancuso, Symbiosia, 2019 In collaboration with Stefano Marcuso of the International Laboratory of Plant Neurobiology in Florence, Biersteker created two digital displays and connected them to two trees in the garden of Fondation Cartier, Paris. These displays visualise how factors such as solar radiation, CO2 levels, humidity, rain levels, and air pollution affect the trees by presenting this data, gathered every second, in the form of tree rings. The aim is to illustrate how trees are being affected by the conditions of climate change by making the internal conditions of tree seen.

Key Questions: • How can you bring awareness to the conditions of plant life immediately around you, to suggest what the impact of climate change is in the here and now?

Challenges to consider: • This is quite a complicated visualisation of data – would this attract attention to a broad audience?

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2. Design // B. Experiential Works

B. Experiential Works It is worth considering that one of the greatest strengths of art installations is their ability to create an affective or emotional response. This not only applies to the subject matter, but also in its form, and the ways in which the public interacts with it. Immersing the audience, asking them to imagine certain conditions, and inciting cultural memory are all powerful ways of engaging the public.

Note that these types of installations may be particularly difficult to execute in the current pandemic conditions.

Key Qs to ask yourself include: • How can you not only make an audience understand environmental conditions, but feel them?

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2. Design // B. Experiential Works Case Study 5.

Climate and Cities with Hubbub, Pollution Pavilion, 2020 The Pollution Pavilion was part of the Air We Share campaign, aiming to raise awareness of air pollution in London. In 2019, Hubbub collaborated with King’s College London and artists Climate and Cities to create an interactive display to represent research conducted into the levels of air pollution exposure in ten different individuals’ daily routines. In this installation, balloons change colour to reflect annual levels of nitrogen oxide from five London Air Quality Network stations. It was displayed for two weeks in Covent Garden Piazza, in January 2020.

Key Questions: • How can you use installation to visualise crucial environmental data that is complicated, abstract and invisible to the eye? How can you integrate an interactive element to make the public engage more with the topic you’re visualising?

Challenges to consider: • The effect of the Pollution Pavilion was more dramatic in the dark and the reliance on technology made it prone to glitches – what are the limitations of using light in your installation and how can we overcome these?

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2. Design // B. Experiential Works Case Study 6.

Wolfgang Buttress, The Hive, 2016 The 17-metre tall installation in Kew Gardens’ wildflower meadow recreates the beehive using one thousand LED lights that light up in according to the vibrations of the bees in the Gardens. This multi-sensory installation aims to bring appreciation to bees by bringing bee life to a human scale, so that people can form in-depth connections with the insects.

Key Questions: • How can installation be used to create wonder from plants, animals, or subjects that may seem unimportant to many people? How can the imagination be mobilised as a tool for changing people’s opinions?

Challenges to consider: • This large and permanent installation is costly to produce and maintain – how can such an approach be completed on a less monumental scale?

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2. Design // B. Experiential Works Case Study 7.

Cape Farewell, Pollution Pods, 2017-ongoing Created by artist Michael Pinksy, this installation consists of five geodesic domes, emulating five environments of contrasting air quality, including nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and carbon monoxide levels. The idea is that you can experience breathing in Tautra, Norway, in direct comparison to that in London, New Delhi, Beijing and Sao Paolo. This was exhibited at Somerset House in 2018, but has also been exhibited in Tautra, Geneva, Bremerhaven, Vancouver, Manchester, Dorset, Melbourne and New York.

Key Questions: • How can you not only visualise the conditions of climate change, but make people feel them?

• Can this produce a more personal reaction than a more distanced, visual one?

Challenges to consider: • This kind of installation must take seriously questions of accessibility and prior health conditions.

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2. Design // B. Experiential Works Case Study 8.

Allison Janae Hamilton, The peo-ple cried mer-cy in the storm, 2018 The tower of stacked tambourines is inspired by the 1928 hymn Florida Storm, about the Great Miami Hurricane of 1926 and the Okeechobee Hurricane of 1928. Both hurricanes devastated Florida, but the latter especially killed thousands of African American migrant workers, who were then buried in an unmarked mass grave. Hamilton writes that the work “contemplates how climate-related disasters can expose existing social inequities and how affected communities contend with this twofold devastation”.i The opening of the installation was accompanied with a musical performance inspired by the original Florida Storm.

Key Questions: • This installation uses cultural memory to outline that environmental issues cannot be separated from those of race. How can you think critically about what “public” means – how do questions of race, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, class, age and ability intersect with the environmental subject at the centre of the campaign?

• How does it affect people differently?

• Likewise, how can Hubbub help elevate the voices of those usually unheard by commissioning under-represented artists and designers?

Challenges to consider: • While cultural images, objects and songs are useful ways to produce an emotional response, it is often based on the audience’s ability to recognise what they mean. What images, objects and songs could you use that would be common enough to be recognised by a broad audience?

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2. Design // C. Community Works

C. Community Works Installations can also work as community engagement projects. This can take many forms, from creating something that the community can use, or getting them to create the work themselves. A significant benefit of this is the potential to create works that will not end up in storage, as they can be more ephemeral projects or permanent parts of the community, such as community gardens.

Moreover, it also has the potential to create deeper forms of engagement on a local level, as opposed to a broad reach that may not be as deep.

However, working with community groups may have restrictions due to Covid-19 and you will need to consider: • Social distancing if facilitating group workshops and meetings, or consider hosting these online • Social distancing within any spaces of the installation, especially if creating communal or social areas • Does the installation require people touch communal objects?

• What spaces are people frequenting right now?

• Will Covid-19 alter the ways in which the community project will be received?

Is it still relevant to the community’s needs?

Key Qs to ask yourself include: • How can you use installation to find creative ways to engage a community in environmental issues?

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2. Design // C. Community Works Case Study 9.

Hubbub Present, Doncaster, 2020 Hubbub installed a giant present in Doncaster as part of our Love Where You Live alleyway transformation project. The installation of a giant present in a local park invited local people to have their say about what they’d like to see in their neighbourhood, from fun and games to plants and flowers. The aim was to spark some initial engagement in the streets, get an idea about the types of activities we should prioritise when working with the residents. Voting cards were hung on residents’ doors as opposed to flyers and the copy on the present was translated into several languages to reflect the diversity of the area. Due to limited budget the installation made out of repurposed pallets that would later be upcycled into planters or gates for the alleys, and the present artwork was printed on recyclable materials, to make sure that the whole installation would be recyclable when it reached the end of its life.

Key Questions: • How can you capture the diversity of an area when creating an installation?

• How might using door hangers instead of flyers encourage people to interact with the installation and how could you replicate this in other installations?

Challenges to consider: • Creating an installation that encourages residents to engage physically with an installation during a time of Covid-19 restrictions can be challenging. How can you make the installation as safe as possible and help residents feel safe?

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2. Design // C. Community Works Case Study 10.

Eve Mosher, HighWaterLine , 2007-ongoing

The HighWaterLine project has been produced in New York, Miami, Bristol and Philadelphia. Provoked

by Hurricane Katrina and the Bush administration’s softening of the language of climate change, New Yorkbased artist Mosher wanted to use the skills she had to make a difference. Among workshops and educational programmes, HighWaterLine creates public art projects that demarcate flooding levels using a sports field marker.

At first, Mosher drew this line herself around the boroughs of New York, aiming to create a “small spectacle” so that people would approach her to ask what she was doing, and she used this as an opportunity to hand out flyers and start a conversation. In different locations, she collaborated with members of the community to organise a team, made up of environmentalist groups, members of the cultural sector etc., so that they would draw the line themselves in their own neighbourhood.

It is less about her having conversations but creating a situation for others to do so with each other. It is a project that draws on people’s curiosity to find out what is going on, using the symbol of the line (traditionally a demarcation of borders) and the mundane and recognisable sports field marker, to begin a discussion of climate change in the area without “trying to win them over” but “meeting them

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2. Design // C. Community Works where they are”.ii The more deeply the community are engaged with the project – an engagement actively created by the artists by gathering an understanding about how they feel about it, as well as running workshops prior to the drawing of the line – the more positively the project has been received. The change that it aims to bring about is centred on those who draw the line, as she states that “if you participate in a collaborative, collective, creation of something, that really builds a really tight kind of experiential learning”, but also those that they then discuss the project with; reports from those who took part cite changes to workspaces and home lives as participants have been given the knowledge and experience to be able to talk to others about climate change.iii Equally, the project itself does not require much equipment: in the US it used dry chalk that only lasted a few days, which also has the benefit and improving the quality of soil by balancing out acidification; in the UK, non-toxic paint was used and lasted longer. Because of the temporary nature, photographic and video documentation was necessary to capture the performative experience of capturing the line.

The project has since been taken up in Hawai’i and can be produced by any community.

Key Questions: • How can you use installation in the form of a simple and inexpensive action or performance that involves deep community engagement?

Challenges to consider: • Without prior community engagement, the project can be conceived as invasive and be taken negatively.

• How can you build in co-designing with the community from the onset?

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2. Design // C. Community Works Case Study 11.

Mary Mattingly, Swale, 2016-ongoing

Swale is a food forest located on a barge that travels to the different piers of New York City. It was created to address the fact that while over one third of the city’s population lives in a food desert, it has been illegal to pick fresh fruit and vegetables on New York City’s land for over a century.

The project uses common law of the water to allow people to go aboard the barge and harvest fruit, vegetables and herbs for free. It relies on community engagement to keep it running; for example, on the Bronx river, it is run by the NY State Summer Youth Employment Program, and it is the neighbours at local docking stations that provide knowledge to visitors about the care and maintenance of local perennial plants.

As such, it is not just free access to food that the project creates: Dariella Rodriguez, Director of Community Organizing for Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice says, “Being a part of the Swale project, both for myself, and as an organizer who works with young people has been life-changing. It has connected us to our community in a unique way, encouraging tough conversations about health and food justice and also the way our cultures connect us with nature, and the ability to grow food.

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2. Design // C. Community Works The young people were changed instantly by just being aboard Swale, giving them the opportunity to engage as leaders and educators, not just onlookers�.iv The project draws attraction by seeming out of place in its surroundings and thus provoking surprise, but it also goes further by asking people to pay attention to their surroundings: it changes these surroundings by being an ecologically and socially regenerative project, and brings awareness to the systems in place that restrict use of public land. Mattingly believes that the awareness the project has incited is part of a growing appeal to the use of public land in New York City and is working to create legislative change.

Key Questions: • How can you use installation as a means of addressing systemic problems such as lack of access to public spaces?

Challenges to consider: • The barge turns the project into a spectacle that brings visibility and awareness of its existence. This is no doubt a significant undertaking (and is potentially costly both financially and environmentally): how can we use creativity to make regenerative projects eye-catching and inspiring in order to attract publicity and raise awareness?

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2. Design // C. Community Works Case Study 12.

Terrains Vagues, ARTFARMS, 2013

Like Swale, ARTFARMS uses installation to tackle food production. The non-profit architecture collective Terrains Vagues established the project to regnerate Buffalo’s East Side after a post-industrial decline in population. Many vacant lots in the area had been turned into farmland, but land contamination hindered food production. ARTFARMS invited local artists to work alongside farmers to address the individual needs of the farmers. The intenion was to use participation and community-based skills to regenerate the land socially and environmentally to change perceptions of Buffalo.

Key Questions: • How can you involve key stakeholders in creating an installation to ensure it addresses local challenges?

Challenges to consider: • Occupying vacant land can produce certain ethical problems, as using it for one thing means that it will not be used for something else. In the area you would be working, are there any more urgent problems, for example homelessness, that might mean that the space is better put to use for something else?

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2. Design // C. Community Works Case Study 13.

Jeppe Hein, Breathe With Me, 2019

This installation was launched in both the United Nations headquarters and in Central Park as part of ART 2030 during the 74th session of the UN General Assembly and the UN Climate Action Summit. On wave-like walls, it invited people to draw two blue lines in a downward direction as they exhale. It aimed to draw attention to air quality and climate change, as well as bridging the gap between breathing as an individual and societal act.

It was the largest art project in Central Park in over a decade, with potentially 93 million people involved.

Key Questions: • Hubbub have produced similar collaborative installations such as Peppermint Pointillist. How can such an approach be utilised as a kind of participatory performance or action in itself?

Challenges to consider: • There have been many examples of vandalism within the history of Hubbub’s installations (Cup Cube and Infinitinny). How can we prevent a public installation which ask people to engage with it from being vandalised?

• How can we encourage positive interaction?

• What kind of security would be necessary to prevent vandalism?

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2. Design // D. Performance

D. Performance Performance works, actions or stunts have the benefit of not necessarily needing huge structures that need a well thought-through material afterlife.

They are temporary, the human body can be its material, and it is a great way of drawing public attention. The action can be produced by the artist alone, a whole team (think flash mob), or it can be a more spontaneous participatory event.

Key Qs to ask yourself include: • What are the best locations and best ways to capture the performance (e.g. photography, video, live feeds)? • How can we share photos or videos of the performance more widely to reach a bigger audience?

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2. Design // D. Performance Case Study 14.

Mary Mattingly, Pull, 2013

As part of her House and Universe series, Mattingly brought together almost all the possessions she owned, tracked each object’s supply chain and made this information publicly available online. Then she would accumulate these objects, tie them together in a boulder with string and sisal twine, and pull this boulder through New York City, including over the Bayonne Bridge between Staten Island and New Jersey. According to Mattingly, the point of the bundle was to “reconsider the weight of their [her possessions’] extraction, production, distribution, and trajectory around the world” and to really “emphasise their weight”.v

Key Questions: • In many ways, this builds upon some of Hubbub’s previous installations, such as the Textiles Cube, that aims to use quantity to illustrate unsustainable lifestyle choices. How can performance, creating an absurd spectacle, make such an approach more dramatic?

Challenges to consider: • A performance needs to be seen, either in person or through documentation.

How can you maximise this, especially within the current pandemic conditions in which public spaces may not be so populated?

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2. Design // D. Performance Case Study 15.

Climate Protestors, Flash Mob Die In, 2019

Protestors have had interesting ways of producing performances or stunts in public places, from sit-ins to flash mobs. The flash mob die-in is a common tactic of climate protestors (as well as animal rights, anti-war, human rights, anti-police brutality and AIDs protestors) and this version in the Isle of Man lasted five minutes of Tynwald Day to protest the lack of urgency around climate action.

Key Questions: • Flash mobs or sit-ins can be very effective and cheap to produce, as they don’t require any materials at all. If the die-in is too negative a stance for your campaign, how can you use other, more upbeat types of flash mob to spread your message?

Challenges to consider: • This is particularly difficult to pull off in Covid-19, as you would have to think through social distancing measures and the kind of space in which it would be the most effective. Equally, while it is a great way to grab attention, how can you ensure people get the message?

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2. Design // D. Performance Case Study 16.

Hubbub, Message in a bottle, 2015

As part of their 2015 campaign Neat Streets Hubbub organised a flash mob in Central London. A plastic bottle was placed in the middle of the pathway next to a bin.

If passers-by picked up the bottle and put it in the bin a flash mob appeared waving flags and playing instruments, the passer-by was then given a medal. The video made of the flash mob aimed to highlighted how many people walked past the bottle and our common responsibility to clean up the problem.

Key Questions: • The flash mob is a performance and as such will only be experienced by a small amount of people, does an event like this have to filmed in order to make it most effective?

Challenges to consider: • This particular flash mob put a passer-by at the centre of attention and by design before they can give consent. What are the ethical questions around involving members of the public unknowingly in performance?

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2. Design // E. Light

E. Light Light can be a fascinating way to create an aesthetic experience.

It amplifies existing spaces, architectures and environments; it can be experienced from afar or as interactive experiences like those in Section 2b.

While light does not create much in the way of material installation waste, it is necessary to consider:

Key Qs to ask yourself include: • What is the energy usage and light pollution produced by the installation?

• What time of day will these installations be most effective?

• What is the best way to capture the installation and share it with a broader audience, both during and after it is taken down?

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2. Design // E. Light Case Study 17.

Ulf Pederson with Hubbub, White River, 2020 This installation is part of the Food Savvy campaign in Norfolk and Suffolk aiming to highlight food waste.

Focusing on milk waste, this installation will use bright white text projected on prominent locations in Norwich and Ipswich with the key messages of the campaign.

Key Questions: • How can you use light to make a temporary intervention into a very public place, without being restricted by material structures?

Moreover, how you use text to amplify the message of your campaign on a monumental scale (e.g. the size of a building)?

Challenges to consider: • What phrasing will people engage with the most?

• What location is best for the projection to be big and interesting enough, but still in a public space?

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2. Design // E. Light Case Study 18.

Pekka Nittyvitra and Timo Aho, Lines (57⁰ 50’N, 7⁰ 16’W), 2019

This light installation uses sensors to track rising tidal changes in the Outer Hebrides. On high tide, the light line aims to demarcate, speculatively, the future of rising sea levels.

Key Questions: • This project uses the line motif like the HighWaterLine project (see Section 2c) but, using light, it does so very differently. What do you gain from using light in comparison to community engagement practices, and which is more suitable for your purpose? Can light be more suitable for current pandemic restrictions?

Challenges to consider: • The photographs of this project are very aesthetically pleasing. Naturally, documentation is also key to light projects, but with the remote location of this project and limited in-situ audience, is the impact of these projects mainly photographic rather than light-based?

• How can you make sure your light installation is also viewed in person?

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2. Design // E. Light Case Study 19.

HeHe, Nuage Vert, 2008

This light installation was produced by the artist duo Helen Evens and Heiko Hansen in collaboration with Helsinki Energy. A green light was projected onto the vapour cloud emitted by the Salmisaari power plant to highlight that energy was not the only output of the plant, but emissions too. This was part of a campaign called Unplug!, aiming to get residents and businesses of the Ruoholahti district to reduce energy usage. The residents of the area were asked to unplug electrical devices between 7-8pm and go outside and see the light project. The more people reduced their energy usage, the bigger the projection became. 4000 residents reduced their energy commission by 800 kVA on Friday 29th February 7-8pm. Helen Evans writes: “as a transmitting architecture, Nuage Vert conveys multiple ideas: could this green cloud be a toxic cloud or an emblem for the collective effort of the local community? The meaning is left open for each and all to decide and will depend upon the level of engagement”.vi

Key Questions: • How can a set viewing time create a greater engagement and interaction, and eliminate any problems of visibility during the daytime?

Challenges to consider: • With only a short window to view the work, how can you ensure that it will be seen enough for the project to be worth it?

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2. Design // E. Light Case Study 20.

Olafur Eliasson, Beauty, 1993 Eliasson uses a spotlight that shines through fine mist to create a rainbow effect through the interplay of water and light. This creates an immersive experience similar to standing under a waterfall – it is an aesthetic experience meant to incite an admiration for the beauty of nature.

Key Questions: • This work takes light installation a step further by inviting the audience to interact with it. How can you mix light installation with more experiential approaches so that the audience has the ability to participate?

Challenges to consider: • Like many of Eliasson’s works, this project requires a significant amount of technology that, over a long period of time, can be energy consuming.

• Is it realistic for a project like this to be adapted for an outdoor public space?

What kind of location would be necessary?

• Equally, could this be possible within the current pandemic conditions?

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2. Design // F. Sound

F. Sound Like light installations, sound is a great way to produce an installation that does not produce any material installation waste. Approaches range from projected sounds of animal noises and alarms, to creating ways for the community to create sounds themselves. However, there are some challenges:

Key Qs to ask yourself include: • How can you make sure sound is heard over the background noises of daily life?

• Is there a way to make it accessible to those who are hard of hearing?

• When much of social media relies on images, how can you make sure that a sound installation still draws attention on visual platforms?

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2. Design // F. Sound Case Study 21.

Bernie Krause, The Great Animal Orchestra, 2019

Great Animal Orchestra is a work by the bioacoustician Bernie Krause that includes seven soundscapes from North America, Central Africa, Brazilian rainforests and oceans. These soundscapes illustrate the distinct sonic characteristics of each ecosystem. In the gallery, these recordings are played alongside visual representations that spread across the walls. The aim of the work is to give a more intimate knowledge of the acoustic worlds of ecosystems and bring the audience closer, forming relationships with the environment through empathetic and admirational responses.

Key Questions: • This installation primarily aims to bring appreciation of different ecosystems.

How can we use sound to raise awareness of environmental problems? Is it possible to incite admiration and raise awareness simultaneously?

Challenges to consider: • The visual installation that is paired with the sound is very striking, and well suited to the black-box contemporary art gallery. Could it look as impressive in a public space?

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2. Design // F. Sound Case Study 22.

Tomás Saraceno, Acqua Alta: en Clave de Sol, 2019 This sound work takes the city of Venice’s high water alarm system as its starting point: there are sixteen sirens across the six sestieri of Venice to warn citizens that the acqua alta, the tide peak, will reach in two to four hours. The tones of this siren alter depending on the four levels of flooding. Saraceno’s sound work imagines what this would sound like in 100 years time, creating a sound composition “that amplifies the inaudible score of global warming”.vii Six speakers are distributed around the Gaggiandre, relating to the water you see directly in front of you.

Key Questions: • This installation illustrates how sound can be used in an outdoor setting. How can you use sound to amplify the environmental conditions in a certain location?

Challenges to consider: • While used outside, it is still within the confines of an art exhibition. What restrictions would there be to using sound in a prominent public space?

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2. Design // F. Sound Case Study 23.

Colin Priest, Bow Bells Ring, 2011 Bow Bells Ring is a sound installation commissioned by View Tube Art and Invisible Dust, in which 100 bicycle bells were situated at key points along the Greenway, Capital Ring towpath and Stratford High Street in the summer of 2011. The intention was to use sound to bring attention and admiration to parts of the East End of London, such as the canals, which had not been getting much attention or footfall during the renovations for the 2012 Olympics.

Key Questions: • Sound installations do not have to be digital – to use less energy, how can you use everyday sound-making objects to create this installation?

Challenges to consider: • An interesting element of this installation is the fact that it is spread across a large area. Would this make it difficult to monitor and manage?

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2. Design // G. Digital Works

G. Digital works Digital technology can be a great way to enhance both our experience and understanding of environmental issues and phenomena, and is becoming increasingly popular with contemporary artists concerned with the environment. Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) can incite empahy and provide context and understanding to what is directly in front of you, without needing many material structures.

The Web also provides a platform for creating more virtual forms of participation and engagement that can work alongside and enhance that which is produced by material installations. This can include anything from social media, YouTube, and your own website, to more elaborate virtual tour programmes like those offered by Google Arts and Culture. For AR and VR technology, look into Acute Art, a major producer of AR and VR artworks.

However, it is worth mentioning that while digital technologies create virtual spaces, they rely on a material infrastructure that consumes high levels of water, energy and rare earth minerals, so is not entirely free of material waste.

Regardless, digital technology has a massive place in our lives and it is how we often keep up to date with each other and the world, so it can useful to make the most of this.

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2. Design // G. Digital Works Case Study 24.

Marina Abramović, Rising, 2018 This VR experience, created with Acute Art, positions the participant face-to-face with the artist in a glass tank slowly filling with water. The participant then finds themselves surrounded by melting polar ice caps; they are asked if they would like to pledge to support the environment, and the only way to save the artist from drowning is to say yes – to save the artist, you must save the planet. The artist is also working on an app for Rising, commissioned by Nobel Media, using augmented reality to allow the users to make active choices to care for the environment.

Key Questions: • This installation uses technology to form an empathetic response to watching the artist drown. How can you use technology to produce such a response to a wide variety of environmental issues, which perhaps in contrast do not naturally create a disaster narrative?

Challenges to consider: • While the work asks you to pledge to save the planet, there are no resulting implications to doing so. How can you ask people to pledge in a way that is not an empty statement, and has concrete consequences?

• VR technology needs an appropriate setting and because it requires the viewer to use a headset, cannot be safely used in the current pandemic.

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2. Design // G. Digital Works Case Study 25.

Hito Steyerl, Actual Reality OS, 2019-2020 Actual Reality OS is an augmented reality programme accessed on the site of the Serpentine Galleries, London, and aims to visualise data about inequalities in wealth, social housing and austerity policies. The shape of the architecture becomes warped to visualise the data that is usually left unseen and expose the power dynamics artificial intelligence technologies. This exists alongside the Power Walks programme, using tours of the city to make the data from the software more tangible by highlighting hidden social issues and inequalities in the area.

Key Questions: • How can you use digital technology to enhance public understanding of the structures that organise communities and environments?

• How can technology be integrated into more community-based projects and events, like Power Walks, which acts like an alternative tour guide?

Challenges to consider: • Like VR, creating AR software can be a substantial and expensive task. How can you ensure that if you put in the effort, it will be widely used?

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2. Design // G. Digital Works Case Study 26.

The Mycological Twist, The Mycological Twist / Riverside / Rust, 2016 This was a one-week workshop hosted on the online survival game Rust. Within the game itself, they hosted a series of events that were free to access, such as sculpture exhibitions, collective painting, performances and lectures. This is based on the overall aim of The Mycological Twist group to produce “networks as support for sustainability,” where human networks, and artistic collaboration, mirror mycelial networks.viii They hosted this on Rust to emphasise survival, illustrating that this is a time of social, economic and ecological crisis.

Key Questions: • What does public space mean today? Usually we consider physical spaces, such as high streets, stations etc., as the spaces that witness the most footfall. But what about online spaces?

• Online gaming, either in the actual participation of the game or streaming, draws a huge amount of attention. Could you creatively intervene in these spaces as well?

Challenges to consider: • The above project had a team of artists managing the events while it was on to monitor any negative interventions. Would an online space require 24/7 management?

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2. Design // H. Narrative Environment Design

H. Narrative Environment Design According to narrative designer Stephanie Romig-Orr, narrative environment design “sits within the intersection of spatial design and storytelling, and comes out of the premise that every space tells a story through visual cues, and that spaces impact the way people interact and the experience of the world that they have.”.ix This can be used in exhibition design, public artworks, and in urban settings, and works by conducting research into a space – it’s use, history, dramas, and stakeholders – and uses this information to drive the design of a project so that there is an intimate connection between the design and the space. In urban regeneration projects, the aim is often to “turn a space into a place”, as it works to uncover the identity of a space.x The potential of narrative environment design is broad, and even extends to types of “craftivism”, using crafts to spread social messages.

Key Qs to ask yourself include: • How can you turn your campaign into a narrative, and use installation as a way of sharing that story?

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2. Design // H. Narrative Environment Design Case Study 27.

Hubbub, FFS Cube, 2018 In Putney Wharf, a cube was installed that showed the history of the Thames, information about how Londoners and wildlife and connect to the river, who cleans it up, and what people can do to help the littering problem.

This was part of the For Fish’s Sake campaign, that ran in the London Bridge area in 2017 and Putney Wharf in 2018, which both aimed to use bright messaging and playful interventions, such as a Cabinet of Curiosities and floor vinyls in London Bridge, to bring awareness to riverside littering.

Key Questions: • How can you use research into the history of the place central to your campaign to both attract attention to a problem but also educate the local residents about their environment?

Challenges to consider: • How can you balance interesting and engaging information and stories with the key message of the campaign, so that it is not just light and entertaining, but also not damning and dogmatic either?

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2. Design // H. Narrative Environment Design Case Study 28.

Stephanie Romig-Orr, “Duck Off” with the Urban Green Line, 2012 This was a project for the British Waterways Trust in Hackney, who were looking for new ways to gain volunteers to pick litter. Narrative environment design was used to reframe litter-picking to make it something fun and “capture people’s imagination”.xi This includes posters, social media content, an article in the local paper about a “Canaligator” loose in the Hackney Canal, and events during the litter-picking session to make it more fun. This project was a pilot and interest has been shown to make it into a series of events, but this has not happened yet.

The impact of the project was gauged by the number of volunteers, which increased substantially with the project.

Key Questions: • How can you utilise media platforms and advertising spaces not just to promote your installation, but as a key part of it?

Challenges to consider: • While telling stories is a fascinating approach, with campaigning you need to make sure that the environmental information is still correct, and there is a key distinction between fact and fiction.

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2. Design // I. Designers and Organisations for Potential Collaboration

I. Designers and Organisations for Potential Collaboration Many of the case studies used in this section have been established designers. Therefore, this section provides a list of emerging artists and designers who work within an environmental or social context, as well as a list of organisations that may be useful to be aware of for future collaboration.

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2. Design // I. Designers and Organisations for Potential Collaboration

Artists and Designers Jessica Duggan

Edwina fitzPatrick

Duggan is a Graphic Communication Design Graduate from Central Saint Martins, whose work focuses on the conditions of climate change. Her work includes Environmental Warning Signs, a flag system designed to highlight the hidden effects of climate change, and A Sign for Change, which equally aims to communicate the effects of climate change through signage, this time using colour.

fitzPatrick is a London-based artist whose practice uses on-site research into the histories and characteristics of a specific place. She collaborates across multiple disciplines, including horticulturalists, biodiversity experts, engineers, architects, perfumers, foresters, archivists and composers. For the project The Archive of Trees, fitzPatrick worked with UK Oak Project to create autobiographies of the trees based on sample analyses and local information. This took place in Fineshade Wood, Northamptonshire, in 2018 and was commissioned

by Fermynwoods Contemporary Art.

Naomi Haeger Haeger is an MA/MSc graduate of Global Innovation Design at the Royal College of Art and Imperial College London, with a specific interest in sustainability of people’s relationship to food. Food Waste Watch is Haeger’s campaign to create more student awareness of food waste in university canteens, and uses design to create behavioural change within this context; and LEON Hackathon is a collaborative project that designed a new bin station for the customers of LEON to organise their packaging waste more efficiently.

Teddy Hunter Hunter is a sound artist whose work emphasises the relationship between the environment, sound and architecture. (Un)Heard: Plant Soundings was an interactive spatial and sound installation at the TactileBOSCH Lounge, Capitol Centre, Cardiff, in January 2020. It aimed to manifest how plants communicate through fungal neural network by using sensors attached to plants to measure micro-voltages which were then interpreted and translated into sound.

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2. Design // I. Designers and Organisations for Potential Collaboration

Imagemakers // Section 3c

Rania Qaddoura // Section 4b

Imagemakers is a design studio based in Devon with keen interests in history and the environment. They have worked in a range of different design formats and heritage contexts, from museums, historic buildings, parks and gardens, landscapes, and waterways.

Their Design Out Drowning design, a sand installation commissioned by the RNLI, is Case Study 29 in this report.

Qaddoura is a graphic design graduate of Bournemouth School of Art and has since worked with the sustainable branding and digital agency TEMPLO in Shoreditch. Her work uses graphic design to create conversations to make a difference. Her university project GAIA: Track Your Emissions, a tool for consumers to use in supermarkets to monitor the carbon emissions of their purchases, is Case Study 30 of this report. It is a project that has received a lot of interest but has not yet been realised.

Stephanie Romig-Orr // Section 2h Romig-Orr is a narrative environment designer whose work is motivated by social innovation – she uses design to make real change. Alongside “Duck Off” with the Urban Green Line (Case Study 26), she has previously worked with the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, the Barbican Arts Centre, and the British Paralympic Organisation, and also works closely the MA Narrative Environments course at Central Saint Martins, working on their blog. When speaking to her about her previous work, she expressed a keen interest for collaboration, either through the MA Narrative Design course, in which the students work with briefs from collaborators and produce group projects as part of the course, or herself as a designer. She would be happy for herself, and the MA cohort, to receive briefs from Hubbub in the future.

Colin Pries // Section 2f Priest is a London-based artist, architect and Senior Lecturer in Interior and Spatial Design at Camberwell College of Arts, and makes site-specific installations based on public encounters and memory. His work Bow Bells Ring is Case Study 22 of this report, but he has also worked with film, writing, performance and archive material to create public encounters.

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3.

3. Materials: Materials:

What are the best materials for the job?

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3. Materials // What are the best materials for the job?

This section will provide some information about different materials suitable for design. This includes a list of established materials, with their potential advantages and disadvantages, as well as some more cuttingedge materials that it may be useful to be aware of. The aim is to bring an awareness to different possibilities available so that the best materials can be chosen to meet the aims of the brief. For example: What material is best for an installation that will be used multiple times, so must be durable as well as easily transportable?

The ultimate goal is to create installations that do not create huge amounts of waste, and so the end of this section will consider the afterlife of the installation. It will consider: How can material waste be reduced by creating impermanent works, which do not need dismantling because they are ephemeral by nature?

A Note on Sustainability According to Rosa Urbano GutiÊrrez and Laura de la Plaza Hidalgo’s 2019 text Elements of Sustainable Architecture, sustainability is not just a factor of the materials themselves but of the circumstances of their use.

What are the conditions of sourcing, transporting, manufacturing, constructing, treating and reusing the materials?

Materials that are locally and sustainably sourced, do not involve high-energy manufacturing processes that use toxic materials as additives and treatments, and built with designs that emphasise durability but also allow them to be easily broken down, either for reuse or recycling, is key. Weather conditions must also be factored into this, as what is durable in one climate or season may not be for another.xiii

By EU standards, a material is biodegradable if it has decomposed by at least 90% in 12 weeks within an industrial composting process. As a result, it is useful to identify designs that use recycled materials, such as plastic, glass, metals, stone etc. Waste packaging can be used in building materials, textiles, wood compound materials, etc.xiv

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3. Materials // A. List of Established Building Materials

A. List of Established Building Materials This information is taken from: Rosa Urbano GutiĂŠrrez and Laura de la Plaza Hidalgo. Elements of Sustainable Architecture. London: Routledge, 2019; Sascha, Peters. Material Revolution: Sustainable and Multi-Purpose Materials for Design and Architecture. Basel: De Gruyter, 2011.xv

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3. Materials // A. List of Established Building Materials

Natural Fibres: Wood, Bamboo and Hemp These should all be sourced from well managed forests. To ensure this, look for the ecological certifications Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC). These two non-profit organisations emphasise that these materials are renewable and respect both forest biodiversity and the social and economic viability of forest management.

Advantages:

Disadvantages:

• All three materials are renewable. Timber forests can provide oxygen, absorb carbon dioxide and strengthen biodiversity; bamboo and hemp grow very quickly and bamboo can be harvested without killing the tree; the cultivation of hemp does not require herbicides, pesticides or fungicides

• They must come from ecologically certified sources, otherwise it can have extremely negative implications. Hemp extraction is illegal in many places and so it is not easy to source locally

• All three have a low carbon footprint in the manufacturing process

• To make the materials durable and weatherproof, treatments and additives must be used – they should be non-toxic

• Hemp can be turned into hempcrete, which is easy to work with and uses much less water than concrete • Wood and hemp are made into prefabricated entities which are standardised, so easy to use; bamboo and wood can be used with dry joints to avoid the use of toxic glues • All three can be durable if treated well • All three are recyclable; wood and bamboo can be broken down and used in compost or as fuel; using dry joints can allow for easy disassembly for further use

• Sawdust from wood can be toxic to some species • Hemp is not a load bearing material, and the structural performance of bamboo varies according to species and age • If toxic additives are used, they can leak into landfill

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3. Materials // A. List of Established Building Materials

Materials Derived from Wood (Cork and Paper) The ecological certifications of FSC and PEFC apply to these materials as well, but there are also organisations dedicated to the protection of cork, such as Deutschen Kork-Verbandes German Cork Association (DKV) and Associação Portuguesa da Cortiça Portuguese Cork Association (APCOR).

Advantages:

Disadvantages:

• Cultivation of cork in the Mediterranean’s rural areas can provide environmental and economic stability, as cork oak benefits ecosystems in numerous ways

• The extraction of cork is a highly specialised process, and both need to come from certified forests to ensure that extraction will not cause ecological damage

• Both materials are waste free, as cork powder can be used as biomass, and paper residues can be converted into raw materials, energy, or agricultural resources • Both are lightweight and easy to use for temporary structures, with limited construction needs • Cork is anti-static, non-allergenic, impermeable, elastic, buoyant, fire-retardant and wear resistant • If treated properly, paper can have good thermal and acoustic properties • Both are fully recyclable and reusable

• The manufacturing of both materials use water and involve treatments – it should be ensured that these are non-toxic • For the materials to be durable, additives are treatments are necessary • Construction should ensure that they are easy to dismantle for reuse or recycling – paper often needs to be separated from other materials and go through a de-inking process

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3. Materials // A. List of Established Building Materials

Metals (Steel and Aluminium) There are no international ecological certifications for steel, so look to see if they meet international standards, such as the ISO 14001, which is a quality system for managing the environment, and BES 6001, which is a framework for responsible sourcing. For aluminium, look for the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI), a global organisation that certifies performance and chain-of-custody standards.

Advantages:

Disadvantages:

• It is possible to source from local, responsible suppliers

• The extraction of iron ore for steel has high environmental impact caused by using dynamite; aluminium is made of bauxite, which is obtained from opencast mines. Look for recycled metals instead

• These are highly standardised and prefabricated materials that offer fast, safe and reliable construction and minimise waste • Both are easy to maintain, versatile and adaptable; aluminium especially does not need external treatments against oxidation or corrosion, it is nonmagnetic, odourless, waterproof and ductile • Can be strong and durable to use many times • 100% recyclable without loss of quality

• Often manufacturing includes the emissions of toxic substances and high amounts of energy, although efforts are being made to reduce this • Welding can make metals difficult to disassemble, so look to use bolts instead • Coatings and treatments are often used, so look to reduce toxic pigments that evaporate easily • Recycling can use high amounts of energy

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3. Materials // A. List of Established Building Materials

Stone, Concrete and Ceramics There are no international ecological certifications for stone or ceramics, so look to see if they meet international standards, such as the ISO 14001, which is a quality system for managing the environment, and the BES 6001, which is a framework for responsible sourcing. For concrete, look for the Concrete Sustainability Council (CSC), which operates globally to certify concrete products and suppliers as sustainable.

Advantages:

Disadvantages:

• The manufacturing of stone and ceramic has a low environmental impact, as usually it just needs shaping

• Stone has the greatest environmental impact for extraction, as sourcing from quarries causes damage to soil, flora and fauna; the extraction of aggregates for concrete can also produce atmospheric emissions and dust, and can affect soil quality; all three should be responsible suppliers, waste should be managed, and materials reused where possible

• Laying stone has a low environmental impact, and the prefabrication of concrete and ceramic make it fast, safe and reliable to use with waste reduction • Very tough, strong and durable materials that are low-maintenance, and so good for static, permanent structures • All can be reused and recycled into new stone products

• The manufacturing of cement requires a lot of water consumption, and waste can contaminate soil • Stone and ceramic are heavy and bulky materials and are costly to transport, so, if used, it is best to source locally and minimise packaging waste • Finishing treatments are often used so should be non-toxic

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3. Materials // A. List of Established Building Materials

Glass There aren’t any global certification schemes for glass, so consider the ISO 14001, a quality system for environmental management, and the BES 6001, a framework for responsible sourcing.

Advantages:

Disadvantages:

• Recycled glass can be used to reduce the extraction of raw material and emissions during the manufacturing process

• Glass is composed of sand, dolomite and calcite, which are extracted from quarries, and sodium carbonate. These raw materials are abundant but nevertheless can cause environmental damage if not sourced responsibly

• Prefabricated materials allow for fast, safe, and reliable construction and a minimisation of waste • Glass is durable and easy to maintain • Fully recyclable without losing qualities

• Must be sourced locally to reduce emissions and costs in transportation

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3. Materials // A. List of Established Building Materials

Plastics (ETFE) While plastics are typically derived from petrochemicals and so are integrated within the fossil fuel industry, there are multiple types of plastics have been created synthetically to avoid this. ETFE (ethylenetetrafluoroethylene) is a fluorine-based plastic that goes under the brand name Tefzel, created by the chemical company DuPont, who famously created PTFE, or Teflon (although the controversial environmental impact of Teflon must be taken into consideration and can be read about here.) However, ETFE has been used in construction for multiple years now and is increasingly being regarded as a miracle material, because of its strong, lightweight and sustainable qualities. The Eden Project in Cornwall uses this material as its dome.

While this section focuses on ETFE, it may also be useful to be aware of different types of bioplastics, which can be derived from microorganisms (see PLA, PHB and TPS), and plants (See CA).xvi There aren’t any global certification schemes for plastics, so consider the ISO 14001, a quality system for environmental management, and the BES 6001, a framework for responsible sourcing.

Advantages:

Disadvantages:

• ETFE plastics are not derived from petrochemicals and are fully recyclable

• Toxic substances should be avoided in the manufacturing and treatment process

• It is a lightweight material that is easy to work with, and prefabricated materials allow for fast, safe, and reliable construction and the minimisation of waste • It is durable, waterproof and not flammable • Highly transparent like glass, but unlike glass it does not need cleaning because the surface does not retain dirt, and rainwater cleans it

• Source locally to avoid transportation costs and emissions

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3. Materials // B. List of Cutting-Edge Materials

B. List of Cutting-Edge Materials Seetal Solanki’s recent book, Why Materials Matter: Responsible Design for a Better World may be of interest to you. Solanki, who has a research studio in London called Ma-tt-er, offers 34 different materials for the future of sustainable design, and for an article for Dezeen, she gives a preview of five that she believes to be the best: recycled gold, streptomyces coelicolor, lupin, coconut water and raw cotton.

In this section I have outlined a few of these and combined with other case studies of sustainable materials.

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3. Materials // B. List of Cutting-Edge Materials

Vegan Leathers Alternatives to animal leathers have been around for a while, and typically made from polyurethane. However, according to a recent article by Peta, alternatives are being made from banana stems, pineapple, apples, grapes, mushrooms, mulberry tree leaves, teak leaf, paper, wood, cork, recycled coffee grounds, plastic bottles, and coconut water – the last of which is highlighted by Solanki in the Dezeen article. There are also developments being made using materials such as flowers, yeast, tea, and different kinds of fruit. These innovations are most readily evidenced in the fashion industry but may well be used in installation design if necessary.

Raw Cotton Another of Solanki’s featured materials, raw cotton is being used by the company Really, owned by textiles designers Kvadrat, that is considered end-of-life, and upcycling it into a range of products, including textile boards and acoustic textile felt. This is part of an aim to work with circular design strategies, as the waste materials from Kvadrat are used

by Really in their products. The textile board in particular may be of use to installation design, as it is high density and comes in a range of colours.

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3. Materials // B. List of Cutting-Edge Materials Case Study 29.

Carlo Ratti Associati, The Circular Garden, 2019 For Milan Design Week 2019, Turin-based architecture firm Carlo Ratti Associati created The Circular Garden, a one-kilometre long architectural structure made of mycelium, grown in soil over six weeks. The aim was to expand the boundaries of possibility for using mycelial structures in design, beyond packaging, to more architectural forms. At the end of its installation, it was placed back in the soil along with the ropes and woodchips used, illustrating that it can be used in a circular material economy.

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3. Materials // B. List of Cutting-Edge Materials

Carbon Negative and Carbon Storing Materials Mycelium Mycelium are the root structures of mushrooms, and are hugely versatile materials for designing and there is a lot of interest in them at the minute (you may have seen the 2020 exhibition on mushrooms at Somerset House). Along with being used to create leather, mycelium has been used by company Ecovative Design for packaging, skincare and food. For installations, mycelium can be used as a structure within itself, but also as a binding process for organic waste, as the mycelial growth pattern creates a network around them. This process takes place in the dark and requires ten times less energy than synthetic foam materials, is compostable, shock-absorbent, and, crucially, makes use of waste material.xvii

Carbon storing materials have been created by siphoning off carbon dioxide produced from power plants and running it through seawater to form carbonates with the magnesium and calcium in the water, which, when dried, can be turned into bricks and cement. Alternately, the green silicate material olivine can be used, which absorbs carbon dioxide, and algae, which transforms carbon dioxide using photosynthesis.xviii ProClimate use olivine to create waterproof roofing.

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3. Materials // B. List of Cutting-Edge Materials Case Study 30.

Julian Ellis-Brown, The Ventnor Brickworks Ellis-Brown is a systems designer with a background in Mechanical Engineering, specialising in novel sustainable materials.

The Ventnor Bricks is a new form of carbonnegative building material using kelp washed up on the coast of Ventnor in the Isle of Wight, with the strength of clay bricks and insulating properties. These bricks are created in a low-cost, low-emissions manufacturing process that can fit inside a standard shipping container. This project was showcased at the 2020 exhibition at the Royal College of Art.

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3. Materials // C. Afterlife: Sorting Out That Storage Problem

C. Afterlife: Sorting Out That Storage Problem

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3. Materials // C. Afterlife: Sorting Out That Storage Problem It is important to plan ahead when choosing your materials. Getting multiple uses out of an installation is a great way to get your money’s worth, create more exposure, and get proper use out of the materials you have used. So, if you are planning on touring this installation, then look for materials that are easy to disassemble and transport, so avoid any permanent fixtures (e.g. metal frames welded together) and heavy materials (e.g. stone). Challenge the designer to create an installation that can be flat-packed and easily installed by 1-2 people.

You also need to make sure that the materials are durable.

What different temperatures and weather conditions does the installation need to be protected from, and what treatments can the designer do to increase the durability?

Even if you are using an installation multiple times, you need to make sure that in the end the installation can be recycled. Easy disassembly means that materials that are recyclable can also be separated. Using materials that are themselves recycled (such as glass, plastic, paper/cardboard) can ensure that your materials will operate in the circular economy.

Key Question: • What are you going to do with the materials once the installation is no longer needed?

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3. Materials // C. Afterlife: Sorting Out That Storage Problem Some designs need more materials than others. If you are wanting to use less materials in your installation, consider the range of designs in Section 2. Light and sound installations are a great example, as they can be just be turned off at the end – but it is still important to consider the energy source for this.

Can you make this energy renewable? Likewise, stunt or performance-based installations can be achieved with very few materials.

Alternatively, you can branch out by what you mean by materials.

Regeneration projects such as ARTFARMS (Section 2c Case Study 12) are certainly permanent but they merely become part of the environment when they are stopped being regarded as an installation as such. The lifespan of the installation is the lifespan of that environment. Community-based works are a great way to create lasting difference without having to consider “taking down” the installation. However, in these cases you do still need to think long term – who is going to maintain it?

One other way is to work directly with the landscape in a way that produces ephemeral results. Can your installation be washed away by rain, like in HighWaterLine (Section 2c Case Study 10)? Or, if working on the coast, can you use sand?

Key Question: • Can you avoid materials altogether?

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3. Materials // C. Afterlife: Sorting Out That Storage Problem Case Study 31.

Imagemakers, Design Out Drowning, 2019

Commissioned by the RNLI, designers Imagemakers responded to their need to find new, creative ways to communicate beach safety. They did so by writing these safety measures on the beach with a rake, in large clear lettering. The advantage of such an approach is that it produces no more waste than building a sandcastle, and can simply be raked away, or washed away by the tide. However, it would be easy to vandalise, so it is an installation that would need careful observation.

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4.

4. Creating Creating impact: impact:

How can you make the most of your installation?

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4. Creating Impact // A. Evaluation Processes

So, you’ve designed your installation, how can you ensure that it is successful as possible? Installations can be immense undertakings so naturally you want to make the most of it. Their job isn’t just to look pretty, they are working towards the aims of your campaign, and often you want it to work towards more concrete change.

A. Evaluation Processes At this point, it is worth returning to the aims of the installation outlined in Section 1 of this report, within ixia’s Public Art: A Guide to Evaluation. An outline of this guide, as well as information on how to define the values of your installation (aesthetic, social, environmental, economic) can be found in Section 1. ixia’s guide also distinguishes between different forms of outcome evaluation: • Outputs (the things you do during a project, i.e. money spent) • Outcomes (the directly attributable consequences measured at completion) • Impacts (organisational or community-based systemic change produced over a long period long after the project is complete) While the outputs should be well-known to you, the impacts are very difficult to measure and may only manifest after a long time. It is good to think ambitiously and long-term, but for the purposes of planning an installation, it is perhaps best to focus on evaluating the outcomes. These can be quantitive, such as footfall, number of interactions, but more often than not you will need to collect qualitive evidence. In the appendix of ixia’s guide, they include a table of different ways to approach this (see below).xix Many approaches may be familiar to you, and more recent examples can include the use of hashtags and other social media content.

Key Qs to ask yourself include: • How can you evaluate the success of your installation, and maximise the impact it has?

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4. Creating Impact // A. Evaluation Processes

Instrument

Advantages

Disadvantages

Questionnaires

Completed in private, large numbers

Superficial info; not returned; rely on literacy

Interviews

In-depth discussions

Time consuming; can be intimidating; danger of leading responses

Small group discussions

Secure setting to obtain a range of opinions

Difficult to arrange; may not typify the group as only those who are more confident participate Difficult to decide who or what to photograph as good evidence; end up with huge amount of descriptive material which is difficult to interpret

Photography

• • • •

Easy to manage Provides documentation and evidence All can participate Does not depend on literacy skills

Difficult to decide who or what to photograph as good evidence; end up with huge amount of descriptive material which is difficult to interpret

Video

• Flexible • Would appeal to young people • Independent of literacy

Can be intrusive; danger as above; expensive equipment; people can “perform”; difficult to ensure quality

Sound recordings

Cheap and independent from literacy

Danger as above

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4. Creating Impact // A. Evaluation Processes

Instrument

Advantages

Disadvantages

Written diaries

Simple and cheap but needs structure

Reliance on literacy skills; seen as private; may present a falsely positive view

Comment boxes

• Simple, cheap • Easy to organise • Anonymous (honesty)

Comments too wide ranging; Reliance on literacy

Graffiti walls

• Simple, • Cheap, fun • Mass of comments

Not anonymous (peer pressure)

Drawings and diagrams

• Simple and cheap • No literacy required

Drawing can be intimidating; evidence difficult to interpret

Participatory techniques

• Enjoyable • No literacy needed

Need special skills; can be intimidating; evidence may be difficult to interpret

Observation

• Can give in-depth insight • Good for evaluating skills of leader and whole experience

Time consuming; labour intensive; difficult to systematically observe a group

Display or performance

Opportunity to share

End product can be disappointing; shows the result not the process

72 If you want to go further, it is worth asking:

Key Q: • What do you want your audience to do after interacting with the installation, and how can you tailor the installation to facilitate this?

Here are some examples of things that count as change: • Educating the public to the cause • Changing an individual’s habits or lifestyle • Getting the public to make pledges • Getting the public to fund organisations • Getting the public to write letters to their local MP • Changing the way that the public vote

Key Q: • What other forms of change would you want to create?

Maximising the impact of your installation is not an easy job and there are many ways to approach this. For the purposes of this report we have identified two ways for you to consider: location, and documentation/online archives.

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4. Creating Impact // B. Location

B. Location The location of an installation can make an ordinary structure or display look extraordinary. Hubbub have used some excellent locations in the past for this effect. Consider the Cup Cube, placed outside Tate Modern on the Southbank in London. Not only is this a prominent location, but visually the views across the Thames to St Pauls Cathedral are very striking. It urges people not just to enter the installation to experience the structure itself, but also to get a new experience of the surroundings as the structure becomes a framing device. This heightens the aesthetic experience of the installation, which not only allows it to photograph well, hence gaining more attention on social media, but it also makes people want to experience it in person because it is that experiential quality that they cannot get from a photograph alone.

But this leads to a vital point to consider: a location is not only effective because of what it looks like – but who passes through it. Are we reaching the right people at the chosen location?

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4. Creating Impact // B. Location

Who is your audience?

The context in which your audience comes across the installation will affect the ways in which they see it.

For example, what if they are tired and bleary-eyed on their way to work? What if they are on a family holiday to the coast? Having a nice time at a festival? In all these instances, it is worth asking how much the message will really resonate: will it be ignored? Will it merely be considered a form of entertainment, along with other tourist attractions?

The Banana Drama installation, part of the Food Savvy campaign, toured festivals, fairs and fetes across Norfolk and Suffolk. This fun and interactive installation brought an audience in to take recipes, tips, and take part on their smoothie-making bike with an aim of reducing banana waste.

The audience of this installation is very specific, who were there largely for one reason: to enjoy the festival. How would this installation work differently in a different setting, for example, in a supermarket? It’s useful to consider how you can tailor the desired outcome of the installation with what you envision the visitors to the installation will do directly after seeing it.

Key Qs to ask yourself include: • Put yourself in the head of your audience: •

Why are they in the location?

• What do they care about / are interested in?

• What action do we want them to take?

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4. Creating Impact // B. Location Case Study 32.

Rania Qaddoura, GAIA: Track Your Emissions, 2019 GAIA originated as an app design that allows people to track the emissions of their supermarket purchases and receive discounts and vouchers if they keep their emissions low. This was inspired by the ways in which oat milk company Oatly makes their emissions transparent on their packaging – if one company can do it, why can’t this become standardised?xx This idea developed into a supermarket intervention, fit with designs for banners and fridge displays featuring low carbon emission products, all with a bold and modern typeface and the alchemical symbol of the earth. This was further expanded with a campaign that featured posters, billboards and tote bags.

Key Questions: This project takes the reduction of carbon emissions in food consumption as its central aim. It then asks where the decisions are being made by consumers about their food choices and makes it intervention at the central location of this decision.

• How can you strategically address a public in the very place that they have the potential to alter their habits and lifestyles there and then?

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4. Creating Impact // C. Capturing your installation

C. Capturing your installation Like location, capturing your installation is key for reaching a wider audience, securing media coverage, and encouraging more people to visit your installation. We live in a visual society, so it’s good to make the most of it!

More than a way of gaining awareness of the installation while it is in situ, capturing the installation is key to give it an afterlife. Consider the ways in which you will capture or record the installation, either visually, such as photography and video, or verbal or written communication, such as interviews or pieces of writing. Through these forms, you can share your installation long after it has been taken down. This is especially true if you create more ephemeral or stunt-based works, which may not be exposed to the same number of people as a permanent installation in a prominent location for an extended duration. How you capture the installation should not be an afterthought – it is very much part of it and can massively increase its longevity. Remember to also consider what platforms you will use to share the installation – where will you reach the target audience? How can we showcase the installation for potential future funders or partners? Are there awards we can enter to gain more traction?

If you have questions about the best way to capture your installation or which platforms you should use to amplify it speak to the Comms Team.

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4. Creating Impact // C. Capturing your installation

Can you give your installation a digital life?

Think of the Web as an extension of the public space in which your installation sits. In this way, your website can also be regarded as an intervention into public space. Currently, while information about your installations can be found on your website, there is not an archive of them in one location, identifiable from the homepage. As you produce more installations, why not collate them into a portfolio and place them under a new section on your homepage (along with “About Us”, “What’s On Now”, “Tips for Change,” “Create Change,” Collaborate” and “Tune In”)? That way, they will be a more prominent part of your strategy and you will also be able to monitor and potentially increase interest in the installations long after they have been taken down.

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4. Creating Impact // C. Capturing your installation Case Study 33.

Artworks for Change The organisation Artworks for Change aims to promote the awareness of social and environmental issues by grouping together artists and producing exhibitions. All their represented artists are collated in their “artists galleries” and on each page there is a chance to offer a pledge.

You can click on the act button, and it allows you to tick the options that you wish to pledge for, which you can also share on social media. There are different pledges depending on the subject of the artwork, and there is a pledge centre in which you can access more information. Each artist’s page is organised through “delve,” “learn,” “interpret,” “reflect,” and “act”.

Key Question: • Could Hubbub integrate a similar pledge system into their website, using an archive of their installations?

This way, you can not only illustrate what issues are at the centre of each installation, but also encourage people to make changes to their lifestyle, much like you would do in person when talking to visitors of the installations.

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4. Creating Impact // C. Capturing your installation Case Study 34.

Joris Olde Rickkert, RCA Forest RCA Forest is a collaboration of Royal College of Art staff and students. A 2-hectare site on a hill near Bath is being turned into a forest, and people can invest into the forest by buying trees. They pick this tree from a menu, and each tree comes with an AR representation on the RCA Forest app, on which they can get regular updates. The forest will allow RCA students to source their own timber, let the SU café grow their own fruits, give students a deeper connection to the forest, and even host in-situ art exhibitions and events. In a way, it mixes artistic practice and environmental regeneration with both an online shopping system and an “adopt an endangered species” technique.

Key Question: • Could you use your digital platform to give a public installation a means to allow an audience to financially invest in a cause, whether a land regeneration project, or something else?

This furthers the pledge system in the previous case study and shows how a website can be used to participate in a larger goal. This could have potential for community engagement projects within current pandemic conditions, as it can be done remotely.